System and method for cleaning hyrocarbon contaminated water

ABSTRACT

A system or method for removing undesired organic material or particulates, such as crude oil, from water, cavitate the mixture with air; irradiate the jet sprayed cavitated mixture with an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge to create ozone and free radicals within air-oil-in-water-emulsion; and filter the water from the irradiated mixture.

PRIORITY INFORMATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/509,152, filed on Jul. 19, 2011. The entire content of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/509,152, filed on Jul. 19, 2011, is hereby incorporated by reference.

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/510,772, filed on Jul. 22, 2011. The entire content of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/510,772, filed on Jul. 22, 2011, is hereby incorporated by reference.

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/673,064, filed on Jul. 18, 2012. The entire content of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/673,064, filed on Jul. 18, 2012, is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Oil spills are a source of undesired and often devastating pollution to the surrounding environment which needs to be cleaned up, especially if the oil spill occurs in a body of open water.

On conventional method for cleaning up oil spills in water is to add toxic materials to break up the oil, causing the oil to submerge and disperse. However, although the oil spill may appear gone, the oil has merely gone deeper and remains in the form of oil-in-water emulsions, thereby making it more difficult to effectively collect and clean-up oil polluted water to the point below environmental toxicity.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a more efficient and less toxic method of water remediation on-site in case of major oil spills due to catastrophic events in the deep water oil drilling industry, numerous smaller scale oil spills from oil tankers, in water processing on land, both of process water from enhanced oil recovery and shale processing, industrial and municipal wastewater treatment, and toxic remediation of an environmentally damaged water bodies in land.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating various embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart showing an example of a process for cleaning up oil spills in water;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a cavitation system and an electron beam system;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a cavitation system and a dual electron beam system;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a cavitation system;

FIG. 5 illustrates a mobile cavitation/electron beam system;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the effective power of a dual electron beam system with respect to a thin layer of water or water spray (aerosol);

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a water treatment system using a cavitation/electron beam system;

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of another example of a water treatment system using a cavitation/electron beam system;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a multiple electron beam system;

FIG. 10 illustrates another example of a multiple electron beam system;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a portable shielding system for use with an electron beam system; and

FIG. 12 illustrates another example of a portable shielding system for use with an electron beam system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For a general understanding, reference is made to the drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used throughout to designate identical or equivalent elements. It is also noted that the drawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions may have been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features and concepts could be properly illustrated.

FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart of an oil recovery system using an electron beam system.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the oil/water mixture is cavitated with air by a cavitation unit, at step S10. The cavitated mixture is irradiated by an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge, created by an electron beam generation unit, at step S20. Thereafter, the irradiated mixture is filtered to remove the water, at step S30.

In one embodiment, the cavitation process can be realized in three zones or stages. In the first stage, air is introduced into the oil/water mixture. The air may be introduced to the mixture via heterogeneous hydraulic pump or other pressurized air delivery device. The first stage may create bubbles within the mixtures having a diameter from 500 to 1000 microns.

In the second stage, the mixture is agitated to split the bubbles to smaller and smaller sizes such that the bubbles have a diameter of about a few microns. Such small bubbles effectively increase the surface of the bubbles, thereby allowing a greater access of generated within the air bubbles in the course of the irradiation process.

In the third stage, the cavitated mixture is ejected through nozzles to add more air to the mixture and further split the bubbles. The jetted mixture provides greater air saturation, more effective penetration of the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge, and atomized explosive bubbles.

The nozzles may be conventional expansion nozzles or air can be added in the jetting process (generating a jet spray).

The cavitation of air with subsequent generation of ozone within microscopic air bubbles by e-beam radiation allows more effective decomposition of oil components dissolved in water as well as more effective separation of oil components non-soluble in water from the cavitated oil-in-water emulsion. This in turn allows for up to 50% reduction of the electron beam delivered radiation dose required for such decomposition and separation to take place.

Cavitation device 10 of FIG. 2, cavitates the crude oil/water mixture with air.

The cavitation process adds “gas bubbles” to the mixture, which enable a more effective penetration of an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge.

The cavitated mixture is discharged through a set of nozzles to create jets (20) of crude oil/water mixture. The discharging of the crude oil/water mixture through the set of nozzles further cavitates the mixture before the mixture is irradiated or exposed to an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 35 generated by electron beam generator 30. It is noted that the electron beam may be a 0.5-2.5 MeV electron beam.

In one embodiment, the cavitation process can be realized in three zones or stages.

In the first stage, air is introduced into the oil/water mixture. The air may be explosively introduced to the mixture (high temperature and pressure). The first stage may create bubbles within the mixtures having a diameter from 500 to 1000 microns.

In the second stage, the mixture is cavitated to split both the air bubbles and oil droplets to smaller and smaller sizes such that the bubbles have a diameter of about a few microns and the droplets have a diameter of a few tens of microns effectively creating oil-in-water emulsion. Such small air bubbles and oil droplets effectively allow a greater interface between the air and the oil-in-water emulsion and subsequently allow greater diffusion of e-beam generated ozone in said air bubbles into oil-in-water emulsion.

In the third stage, the cavitated mixture is ejected through nozzles to create liquid aerosol droplets consisting of water-in-oil emulsion and microscopic air bubbles. The jetted air-bubbles-oil-in-water aerosol mixture allows more effective penetration of the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge through the mixture, more effective generation of free OH radicals within the oil-in-water emulsion and ozone within the air bubbles, resulting to more effective diffusion of free radicals and ozone within atomized air-bubbles-oil-in-water aerosol mixture.

The nozzles may be conventional expansion nozzles or air can be added in the jetting process (generating a jet spray).

The cavitation of air in the oil-in-water emulsion mixture enables up to 50% increase in efficiency of oil decomposition and separation from oil-in-water emulsion when the electron beam alone or in combination with an electron beam non-thermal plasma discharge are being utilized for generating ozone and free radicals in the mixture.

By exposing the jets (20) of cavitated mixture to the electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge or electron beam 35 alone, the ozone and free radicals generated in the mixture, enables more effective breakdown of the oil particles.

Cavitation device 10 of FIG. 6, cavitates the crude oil/water mixture with air.

The cavitation process adds “microscopic gas bubbles” to the mixture, which enable a more effective generation of ozone inside the air bubbles and free radicals inside the oil-in-water emulsion by an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge or e-beam applied alone.

The cavitated mixture is discharged through a set of nozzles to create jets (20) of air-bubbles in-crude oil-in-water aerosol mixture. The discharging of the crude oil/water mixture through the set of nozzles further cavitates the mixture before the mixture is irradiated or exposed to two electron beams or two electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge (35 and 45). It is noted that two electron beams are generated by two high-voltage generators (30 and 40) and the electron beams may be a 0.5-2.5 MeV electron beams.

In one embodiment, the cavitation process can be realized in three zones or stages.

In the first stage, air is introduced into the oil/water mixture. The air may be explosively introduced to the mixture (high temperature and pressure). The first stage may create bubbles within the mixtures having a diameter from 500 to 1000 microns.

In the second stage, the mixture is agitated to split the bubbles to smaller and smaller sizes such that the bubbles have a diameter of about a few microns. Such small bubbles effectively increase the surface of the bubbles, thereby allowing a greater interface between the oil-in-water emulsion and ozone generated within the air bubbles in the subsequent irradiation process.

In the third stage, the cavitated mixture is ejected through nozzles to add more air to the mixture and further split the bubbles. The jetted mixture provides greater air saturation, more effective penetration of the electron beam or the electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge, and atomized explosive bubbles.

The nozzles may be conventional expansion nozzles or air can be added in the jetting process (generating a jet spray).

The cavitation of air in the mixture enables the power of the electron beam to be reduced, up to 50%, when being utilized for generating ozone.

By exposing the jets (20) of cavitated mixture to the electron beams or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge (35 and 45), a greater amount of ozone is generated, thereby enabling a more effective breakdown of the oil particles.

FIG. 4 shows a more detail example of a cavitation device 10. The cavitation device 10 is divided into three stages or zones.

In the first stage or zone 12, the cavitation device 10 cavitates the oil/water mixture, with air, received by conduit 11.

The first stage or zone 12 of the cavitation device 10 adds “gas bubbles” to the oil/water mixture.

The cavitated mixture from the first stage or zone 12 of the cavitation device 10 is introduced into the second stage or zone 14 of the cavitation device 10.

The second stage or zone 14 of the cavitation device 10 splits the “gas bubbles” from the first stage into smaller “gas bubbles.” The small the “gas bubbles,” the more effective the penetration of an electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge will be.

The cavitated mixture from the second stage or zone 14 of the cavitation device 10 is discharged through a set of nozzles (16) to create jets (17) of the oil/water mixture.

The discharging of the oil/water mixture through the set of nozzles (16) further cavitates the mixture before the mixture is irradiated or exposed to an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a dual electron beam system which can be utilized to separate oil components non-soluble in water from oil-in-water emulsions and/or to treat contaminated water by decomposing oil components as well as other organic contaminants that are soluble in water.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, two electron beam generators 30 are position opposite each other. Contaminated water (water/oil mixture) enters a cavitation unit 10 where the contaminated water is cavitated with air to create an air-bubble filled mixture. The cavitation process breaks up the bubbles to small and smaller bubbles so that the effective surface area of the bubbles and their interface with contaminated water is increased.

Note that air bubbles may also exist inside the oil droplets within the oil-in-water emulsion.

The cavitated mixture is ejected from the cavitation unit 10 through the utilization of jet nozzles (not shown) to further facilitate the cavitation of the mixture with more air and smaller bubbles.

As the mixture is ejected, the electron beam generators 30 irradiate the ejected mixture wherein the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge interacts with the air bubbles to generate ozone. The generated ozone can effectively breakdown the oil particles within the oil-in-water emulsion. In other words, the air bubbles act as ozone generation sites when irradiated by the electron beam or exposed to e-beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge.

The irradiated mixture passes over a filter 75 where the oil particulates solidified within oil-in-water emulsion in the course of the e-beam irradiation process can be effectively separated from the water.

It is noted that although FIG. 5 shows a horizontal electron beam system for irradiating a vertical path of a water mixture, the process is effective on a horizontal water path by merely rotating the electron beam system to create a vertical electron beam system.

FIG. 6 illustrates the effective power of a dual electron beam system with respect to the irradiated water column.

For example, as the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 45 traverses the water column 500, the effective power of the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 47 (dash/dot line) diminishes. Moreover, as the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 35 traverses the water column 500, the effective power of the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 37 (dash/dot line) diminishes.

However, by utilizing a dual beam system, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5, the overall effective power of the electron beams or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge 600 (dash/dot/dot/dash line), upon individual diminishing, remains relatively high. Essentially, the entire column of water may experience electron beam irradiation at 100% power when utilizing a dual beam system. In one embodiment, the power of the electron beam is 1.0 MeV.

As noted above, the various systems use an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge to recover the oil from the water.

The oil/water mixture is cavitated with air by a cavitation unit. The cavitated mixture is irradiated by an electron beam generation unit. Thereafter, the irradiated mixture is filtered to remove the water.

In one embodiment, the cavitation process can be realized in three zones or stages. In the first stage, air is introduced into the oil/ware mixture. The air may be explosively introduced to the mixture (high temperature and pressure). The first stage may create bubbles within the mixtures having a diameter from 500 to 1000 microns.

In the second stage, the mixture is agitated to split the bubbles and the oil-in-water droplets into smaller and smaller sizes such that the bubbles have a diameter of about a few microns and effectively create an oil-in-water emulsion. Such small bubbles and small oil droplets effectively increase the interface between the bubbles and the oil-in-water emulsion, thereby allowing a greater access to oil by ozone generated within the air bubbles and free radicals generated within the water in oil-in-water emulsion in the course of the irradiation process.

In the third stage, the cavitated mixture is ejected through nozzles to add more air to the mixture and further split the bubbles. The jetted mixture provides greater air saturation, more effective penetration of the electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge, and more effective generation of both ozone and free radicals within the atomized air-oil-in-water aerosol droplets.

The nozzles may be conventional expansion nozzles or air can be added in the jetting process (generating a jet spray).

The cavitation of air in the mixture enables the process efficiency to be increased up to 50%, when electron beam or e-beam sustained discharge is being utilized for generating ozone within the air bubbles.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram system using a cavitation/electron beam process to treat solid waste (sludge). As illustrated, solid waste (wet sludge), which has been processed by a digester 1000, is fed to a cavitation/electron beam unit 2000, where the wet sludge is cavitated and irradiated with an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge to produce dewatered sludge.

The combined electron beam and cavitation treatment of wet sludge (both municipal and industrial) results in significant dewatering by releasing water bound inside the porous sludge particulates, thus resulting in 50% or more dewatering compared to non-cavitated and non-radiated sludge. This applies to both inorganic sediment particulates and so called bio-solids from water bound to the outer surfaces and inner surfaces of the pores of such particles in wet sludge (2-3% of total solid content).

It is noted that the combined electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge and cavitation treatment is also effective in removing water from partially dewatered (20-30% of total solid content) sludge coming from sludge dewatering centrifuges.

It is also noted that just electron beam treatment, without cavitation, can provide significant dewatering compared to non-radiated sludge though to a lower extent compared with combined e-beam/cavitation treatment.

By utilizing electron beam treatment, significant energy savings can also be realized over conventional dewatering processes by centrifuges, as well as, shipping costs due to the lower water content in the sludge.

FIG. 8 illustrates another block diagram system using a cavitation/electron beam process to treat solid waste (sludge). In this system, a cavitation/electron beam unit 3000 is introduced before the digester 1000.

The cavitation/electron beam unit 3000 breaks up the sludge so that the sludge does not require the same amount of time in the digester 1000, thereby enabling the processing of more sludge during a given period of time.

As in FIG. 7, FIG. 8 illustrates that solid waste (wet sludge), which has been processed by a digester 1000, is fed to a cavitation/electron beam unit 2000, where the wet sludge is cavitated and irradiated with an electron beam or an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge to produce dewatered sludge.

The electron beam and cavitation treatment of wet sludge (both municipal and industrial) results in significant dewatering of both inorganic sediment particulates and so called bio-solids from water bound to the outer surfaces and inner surfaces of the pores of such particles in wet sludge (2-3% of total solid content).

It is noted that the electron beam and cavitation treatment is also effective in removing water from partially dewatered (20-30% of total solid content) sludge coming from sludge dewatering centrifuges.

It is also noted that just electron beam treatment, without cavitation, can provide dewatering to a lower extent.

By utilizing electron beam treatment, significant energy savings can also be realized over conventional dewatering processes by centrifuges, as well as, shipping costs due to the lower water content in the sludge.

FIG. 9 illustrates a multiple electron beam system. In this example, the mixture to be irradiated is introduced into an oval chamber 80. The chamber 80 includes windows 90 to allow irradiation by the electron beam generation units 30. The chamber 80 may also include cavitators (not shown) that cavitate the mixture between windows 90.

FIG. 10 illustrates another multiple electron beam system. In this example, the mixture to be irradiated is introduced into a circular chamber 85, through openings (not shown). The chamber 85 includes windows 90 to allow irradiation by the electron beam generation units 30. The chamber 85 may also include cavitators (not shown) that cavitate the mixture between windows 90.

FIG. 11 illustrates a portable water shielding housing 5000 having a steel door 6000 to allow an entry way for personnel. This portable water shielding housing 5000 can be constructed to surround an electron beam generation unit 4000 so as to shield the environment from stray radiation.

The housing may be constructed of bladders or pillows that can be filled on site with water to provide the shielding. The bladders and pillows are designed to interlock together so that when stack, the water-filled bladders or pillows create a stable wall.

FIG. 12 illustrates a portable water shielding housing 5000, which can be constructed to surround an electron beam generation unit 4000 so as to shield the environment from stray radiation.

The housing may be constructed of bladders or pillows that can be filled on site with water to provide the shielding. The bladders and pillows are designed to interlock together so that when stack, the water-filled bladders or pillows create a stable wall.

By utilizing bladders and/or pillows which can be filled with water, the empty bladders and/or pillows can be centrally stored and easily transported to a contamination site for construction. Moreover, by being water filled, heavy construction equipment is not required in constructing the shield because the empty bladders and/or pillows can be placed into their positions before filling.

It is noted that cavitation is utilized to generate an air-in-oil-in-water emulsion, characterized by microscopic air bubbles and microscopic oil droplets mixed with water. The microscopic air bubbles and microscopic oil droplets increase the interface between all three phases within the mix so that the generated ozone and free radicals (from the electron beam treatment) have better access to oil molecules.

The electron beam or electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge generates ozone within the microscopic air bubbles, as well as, generate free radicals within both microscopic oil droplets (hydrocarbon radicals) and surrounding water (OH*, H*, O— radicals as well as highly reactive H₂O₂). The ozone and free radicals can better attack the oil by diffusing into oil through increased contact interface.

It is noted that cavitation also results in increased water/sludge treatment efficiency by significantly (up to 50%) reducing the radiation dose (the amount of energy by delivered to mass unit of the by e-beam irradiated material) required for e-beam water treatment.

It is further noted that an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge can be separately initiated in cavitated liquid prior to the cavitated liquid is discharged by jet spraying through the nozzles. In this situation, the electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge occurring in the cavitated liquid (oil-in water emulsion with air bubbles) may increase the treatment efficiency by generating ozone in the air bubbles and free radicals in the water and oil even prior to the action of the electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge or electron beam alone on the jetted aerosol spray.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed embodiments and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the description above. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for removing petroleum from water, comprising: cavitating the petroleum/water mixture with air bubbles; irradiating the cavitated petroleum/water mixture with an electron beam to create ozone within air bubbles; and filtering the water from the irradiated mixture.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the petroleum/water mixture is cavitated by: introducing air into the petroleum/water mixture to create air bubbles in the petroleum/water mixture; agitating the bubblified petroleum/water mixture to reduce bubble size: eject bubblified petroleum/water mixture a jet spray so that jet spray is irradiated with the electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the jet spray is generated by an expansion nozzle.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the jet spray is generated by a nozzle and pressurized gas.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cavitated petroleum/water mixture is irradiated with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: irradiating the agitated bubblified petroleum/water mixture with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge.
 7. A method for treating solid waste, comprising: processing the solid waste, using a digester, to create wet sludge; and cavitating and irradiating the wet sludge with an electron beam to dewater the sludge.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cavitated wet sludge is irradiated with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge.
 9. A method for treating solid waste, comprising: cavitating and irradiating the solid waste with an electron beam; processing the irradiated solid waste, using a digester, to create wet sludge; and cavitating and irradiating the wet sludge with an electron beam to dewater the sludge.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cavitated solid waste is irradiated with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cavitated wet sludge is irradiated with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the cavitated wet sludge is irradiated with an electron beam sustained non-thermal discharge. 